My first embankment stroll this month was on the third and I saw not a single solitary Turnstone – that hasn’t happened since I started doing a regular weekly count along this embankment back in September. The only birds on the stones were three Grey wagtails, and, though there were two Little grebes in the water, even the numbers of Coot and Mute swan were much reduced.

The 8th of December was a bitterly cold day, with the wind so strong it was whipping up small waves against the stones of the embankment. I’m sure that’s the reason I saw so few birds – a single Grey wagtail flitted back and forth, and only six hardy Coots braved the chilly waters, a tiny number compared to usual. There wasn’t a single Mute swan or Mallard or Turnstone, and even gull numbers were low – those that were about were flying quite low around me, as if hoping for food. I had none to give but I did try to grab some flight photos, this Black-headed gull being the best of a blurry bunch.

The 16th was cold but not sub-zero so relatively pleasant, and perhaps that’s why the Turnstones had returned – well, two of them had, and it was lovely to see them foraging along the water’s edge. I didn’t think there were many gulls about until a Black-headed gull about 50 metres from me found some food and then gulls flew in from every direction – 37 Black-headed and 5 Lesser black-backs, all wheeling and screeching and squabbling over one slice of bread.

Apart from those, there were two Mute swans, 3 Mallards, about 6 Coots, 3 Great crested grebes and 1 Grey wagtail. Oh, and I mustn’t forget the littlest of all, a tiny Wren bopping in and out of the rocks in search of insects.

Thick fog hung over Cardiff Bay as I set out on a round-the-bay circuit yesterday morning and, though the fog thinned as the day went on, the day remained grey. Still, never let it be said that grey is boring. Birds there were aplenty (and wildflowers, too … but that’s for tomorrow’s post).

This cormorant was enjoying a successful spot of fishing in the old Penarth dock area, though it was slim pickings for the three Little grebes around the corner in the River Ely.

All around the Bay, on almost every man-made structure and clump of rocks near the water, Pied wagtails bobbed, wagged and ‘chisicked’.

Coots were even more numerous, and an occasional Moorhen prospected along the shoreline.

As I was watching this Cormorant drying its wings, our peace and tranquillity was interrupted by the loud honking of a large skein of Canada Geese flying in from the west.

Where concrete and buildings dominate the shoreline and there’s a notable absence of trees, the birds have adapted and perch on tree-like things.

I saw perhaps half a dozen Great crested grebes around the Bay: I always admire how long they can stay underwater when fishing. Mute swans were more numerous. They are birds of such contrasts, looking anything but decorous when flaunting their glorious white bottoms as they feed, yet the picture of elegance when preening.

The most abundant came at the end of my walk. It was standing room only for the Black-headed gulls on the Barrage.

At least once a week I take a turn along the embankment where the River Ely flows out into Cardiff Bay as it makes a nice circular walk from my home on the cliff-top above in Penarth. (It’s good exercise too, as what goes down there must walk back up!) I always record what I see – usually birds – so thought I would share my sightings in an end-of-monthly post.

A variety of birds make their home in this stretch of water, which they share with a yachting marina and associated water traffic coming and going. There are almost always Turnstones in varying quantities (from one to nine), Mallards, Mute swans, one or two Great Crested Grebes (including their progeny this year), a proliferation of Coots, the occasional Cormorant fishing, usually a couple of Grey wagtails and a couple of Pieds. Gulls fly overhead and there are plenty of hirundines, in the season.

2 October: A Wheatear, an unusual visitor, almost certainly on a migration stopover, was dotting about on the embankment stones; a Pied wagtail was doing its morning stretches, and a Rock pipit was browsing for titbits.

16 October: This was the day before ex-hurricane Ophelia made her presence felt, the day of the jaundiced yellow sky and the rusty red sun, which you can see reflected in my photo of the four Little grebes that were sheltering from the incoming weather. A juvenile Grey wagtail was dotting along the embankment, calling incessantly for its parent; and a Great crested grebe was enjoying a very successful fishing session, coming up with fish in two successive dives.

22 October: The day after Storm Brian I walked the embankment to see if any unusual birds had been blown in. The usual suspects were present, except that, most unusually, there wasn’t a single Turnstone. A solitary Linnet flitted back and forth from pavement to stones, and three rather exhausted-looking Redshanks dozed warily along the water line. One of these was colour-ringed and might possibly be the bird I saw back in March but I couldn’t see its rings well enough to be sure.

A family of four Linnets were feeding on the Ely embankment. The seeds of Herb Robert seemed to be their food of choice.

This is one of six Turnstones foraging along the shoreline. I love their breeding plumage, which is now just beginning to change back to their less colourful winter plumage.

These House martin chicks were poking their heads out of a nest on a house at the end of Penarth Marina.

A close-up of one of a family of six immature Swans by the Barrage.

And a little further long, this juvenile Pied wagtail was slipping and sliding along the wires at the shoreline.

At Cardiff Bay wetlands, I followed a flock of tits and friends, and snapped this lovely bird. It might be a warbler or it might be a Chiffchaff – I couldn’t be sure as I didn’t hear its song and it wouldn’t show me its legs!

This young Moorhen was sticking close to the reeds while its parent was engaged in nest reconstruction, which seems just a little late in the year.

And back over the other side of the Bay, by Ferry Court, this is one of three immature Great crested grebes that were swimming around amongst the Coots, Tufted ducks and Swans.

Yesterday was an absolutely fabulous birding day, an outing with my friends from the Glamorgan Bird Club to the RSPB’s Ham Wall Nature Reserve near Glastonbury in Somerset. We also ventured briefly into the neighbouring National Nature Reserve of Shapwick Heath but I reckon you’d need a week at least to explore both places thoroughly and at all times of the day.

Most of the birds were rather distant so you’ll have to excuse my poor photos but I was able to see the birds clearly as many of the bird club members have good ’scopes and were happy to share. Some birding highlights were:

* three species of Egret: Cattle, Little and lots of Great whites.

* my first sightings of a Glossy ibis (seen here with a Little egret) and a Red-footed falcon

* more Bitterns than you could point a lens at and several beautiful Marsh harriers, gliding seemingly effortlessly over the reed beds. These two birds came into conflict at one point (fuzzy photo above right), with the Bittern presumably trying to defend its young against harrier predation.

* lots of babies, including those of Great crested and Little grebes, Mute swan, Tufted duck, Coot and Blackcap.

* the Black-tailed godwits flying over the waters at Shapwick Heath.

On the way home, with the help of my car mates, I came up with an as-yet-unconfirmed list of 57 species seen on the day, and that was only the birds – more on the other creatures in tomorrow’s blog.

At the original three-nest site: the Mute swans appear to have abandoned their nest, which was empty – maybe they just weren’t ready for parenthood. The Great crested grebe that had chicks but lost them was still sitting on her second nest, and she was sitting tight again so I still don’t know what she’s sitting on.

The Coots that had three chicks in my last update now have just one chick remaining. The family has left the nest, though are still in the same general area. Both parents are actively feeding the little guy but, sadly, I’m not overly optimistic about its chances as there were a lot of gulls, flying overhead and perched on nearby lamp posts, just looking for the right scavenging opportunity.

Nearby, at the other Great crested grebe nest, the grebe has been usurped by a Coot. Her partner was about and feeding her but she didn’t stand up so I have no egg update for her.

I recently learnt of another Coot nest, also nearby, and seeing that was the highlight of the afternoon. Six chicks, all well developed and seemingly ravenous, were frantically being fed by both parents. Very cleverly, the parents were keeping them sitting under a lip of concrete at the water’s edge, so they were quite well protected. Let’s hope they continue to thrive.

It might not look like much but this is Cardiff’s Nest Central! The white blob in the upper left of my photo is a Mute swan, happily ensconced on her nest platform and very well hidden from passing pedestrians. In the more open areas at the front, we have a Coot perched on top of her well-engineered pile of twigs and assorted rubbish and, at the right, a Great Crested Grebe, sitting on her rather more modest nest creation.

This is the Grebe pair’s second nesting attempt of the season – I was lucky enough to see the four eggs they produced first time around and, apparently, the eggs did hatch but the chicks were lost to a predator/s (possibly a large pike). It’s great to see they’re trying again.

The Coots have been more successful, at least so far, with two healthy looking, very cute chicks. I guess it helps to have a high nesting platform to keep the chicks out the water until they’re larger.

Please note: These photos are taken at a distance, using a long lens, and then cropped. This site is in a public place, with frequent foot traffic, but I still make sure my visits are brief. At this time of year, it is particularly important not to disturb nesting birds, and it is, in fact, a criminal offence to disturb birds on the Schedule 1 list (see link for more information). Please respect the birds.

A week ago I mentioned that I had, quite by chance, found a pair of Great Crested Grebes nesting here in Cardiff. What a joy to see! I intend revisiting them once a week or so to see how they’re progressing.

If you think sitting on a nest all day is an easy job, think again! Firstly, it seems that, just like home decorating, the nest-building process is never finished. As I watch Mr Grebe brings home some bits of weed, shows the missus, then places them carefully around the edges of the nest.

While he is off collecting more, the mate of the swan that is nesting just a few metres away comes gliding by, looking for food, perhaps with his eye on the fresh weed Mr Grebe keeps collecting. Mrs Grebe is having none of it! Feeling threatened and upset, she opens her mouth wide and starts protesting loudly at the swan.

Mr Grebe rushes home to see what’s upsetting wifey and also tells the swan in no uncertain terms to back off.

Though the swan is still quite close, the grebes calm down and hubby is about to head off for more weed.

But then another intruder gets too close: a coot comes paddling over, and Mrs Grebe gets upset all over again.

This all happened in the space of about 5 minutes. My photos are not the best but I don’t want to get too close and I don’t want to stay too long, though I don’t think the grebes even noticed my presence with all the other dramas happening.

I’m always delighted to witness the mating display of the Great Crested Grebe (Podiceps cristatus). They make a rather noisy but thoroughly entertaining exhibition of head shaking and neck swaying and bill touching that is a joy to watch, especially with their vibrant neck plumage highlighting their every move. It comes as no surprise that those pretty plumes were once prized by early Victorian milliners to decorate their more extravagant creations. That usage, and the fact that the fine soft feathering on the bird’s body was also valued for costume adornment, meant the Great Crested Grebe was one of Britain’s rarest breeding species by the mid-1800s.

Luckily, laws were enacted to protect Britain’s water birds but their recovery can also be attributed to mankind’s activities – and not in the way you might imagine. The massive increases in both road building and house building following the Second World War required enormous amounts of gravel, and the grebe was one of the birds that benefitted from the gravel pits once they had been abandoned and filled with water. It’s a fitting testament to how well nature can recover from man’s interference in the landscape.

The highlight of today’s long walk was to witness a grebe sitting on a nest. It seems very early in the year and the nest was in rather an exposed position so I do hope the bird doesn’t get disturbed. It was wonderful and, indeed, a huge privilege to see the results of all that head shaking and neck swaying!

About me

I'm a writer and photographer; researcher and blogger; fungi forayer and bird watcher; countryside rambler and city strider; tree lover and cat person; volunteer and traveller.
And I am living proof that Kiwis really can fly.